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Fair opens Oct. 8
The time has arrived for the
1999 Georgia National Fair.
It seems almost Impossible
that this is the tenth fair, but the
he calendar doesn't lie, and now,
the only state-supported fair in
Georgia is a well-known fall event,
attracting thousands each year.
Thanks to visionary management
and workers who take great pride
in their work, the grounds are very
attractive. Many of the repair tasks
are accomplished on “campus’’
rather than sent away for repairs.
The Georgia National Fair has
been a mutually beneficial partner
ship for the Fairgrounds and the
south Houston community paying
countless dividends on the invest
ment Perry and Houston County
made when they bought the land
for the Fairgrounds.
The state of Georgia poured mil
lions of dollars into converting that
prime, lirst-class site into a clean,
modern location which serves as a
center for agricultural shows year
round.
That was 10 years ago. Today,
the Georgia National Fair is far
ahead of what anyone thought
could happen. The community ben
efits from the reputation of a first
class fair operation and from a
huge boost to tourism.
Thanks to a great team of com
munity leaders, state leaders and
fair professionals, Georgia National
Fairground and Agricenter has
become a major plus for the resi
dents of Perry.
Lance fights for VA benefits
(EDITOR S NOTE: This is a guest col
umn from Idaho Attorney General and
newly elected Commander of the Amer
ican Legion A 1 Lance)
Saving Pri
vate Ryan’s
health care
benefits is an
up-hill bat
tle, an up-
Capitol Hill
battle. But it
is a battle
that the
American
Legion and 1
other war
Al
Lance
American
Legion
Comman
der
veteran groups are determined to win.
On Sept. 10, my first full day as nation
al commander of the 2.8 million member
American Legion, the nation's largest vet
erans organization, the U.S. House of
Representatives approved a spending bill
that included a $1.7 billion increase in
veterans health care spending over the
administration’s budget recommenda
tion. The men and women of The Ameri
can Legion recommended a $1.9 billion
increase, still the House took a giant step
in the right direction.
When I testified before a joint session of
House and Senate veterans affairs com
mittees on Sept. 28, I wore two hats: a
lawyer with a strong case and a veterans
advocate with a strong Legion behind me.
Ideally, the Senate will be impelled also to
provide adequate funding for veterans
health care.
Veterans with service-connected dis
abilities and their families realize the
importance of increasing the VA health
care budget frozen by the Balanced Bud
get Act of 1997. They know first hand that
the quality of care in VA medical centers
is not the problem: access to the care is.
Access is driven, in part, by funding.
Health care for our nation’s military
veterans is the province not solely of the
veterans community. It is rather the
moral imperative of an entire nation nes-
See LANCE, Page SA
Houston Home Journal
P.O. Drawer M • 807 Carroll St. • Peny. Ga 31069
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Bob Tribble President
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Ellen T. Green Advertising Director
Phil Clark Sports
Joan Dorsett Lifestyles
Torey Jolley News and Classified
Alline Kent Sports
Pauline Lewis Lifestyles
Rob Mead News and Circulation
Charlotte Perkins News and Composition
Paula Zimmerman Bookkeeping
SI
/
/
Make each day count with those you care for
Time slips away too quickly.
Things are often put aside for
later. Family and friendships
are sometimes taken for
granted there is always
tomorrow to say “I love you” or
“thanks.”
This past weekend, I have
literally stopped and smelled
the flowers. My daughter
brought me a lovely bouquet
of fall flowers. Why? Just
because she wanted to let me
know how much she loves me
and how much she appreci
ates me. She often brings me
flowers or takes my hand and
to give me a squeeze.
My son is also thoughtful.
He calls me daily and stops by
often to give me a hug. Unfor
tunately, that will have to
change. His company is trans-
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NOW. 6PEAKING ON BRAINERI
P e Z*6 DECISION FOR SHOULDN’T
THE PARKWAY CONCRETE HAPPEN.
PLANT, MR. SCARECROW.
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No failing schools, no school vouchers
It was interesting to note that
Republican presidential candi
date George W. Bush has pro
posed that federal funds from
the worst performing schools
be made available to parents for
private education or tutoring.
“In my administration, feder
al money will no longer follow
failure." the Texas governor
said recently.
Under the Bush plan, every
school receiving Title One
money would be required to
test its impoverished students
on basic academics each year.
A warning would be issued to
schools that fail to make
progress toward state stan
dards.
After three years of no
progress, the Title One money
would be matched with other
federal education money and
given to the state, which would
set up an educational account
of about $1,500 a year for each
affected student. The parents
could keep their child in the
failing school or opt for an
alternative, including private
school or tutoring. The plan
would require states to ensure
that parents spent the money
on education.
Bush said federal programs
affecting teacher training, cur
riculum, research and school
safety would have to prove
results, or the funding would
Our Policies
Unsigned editorials appearing in larger type on
this page under the label Our Views reflect the posi
tion of the Houston Home Journal. Signed columns
and letters on this page (and elsewhere In this news
paper) reflect the opinions of the writers and not nec
essarily those of this newspaper.
Signed letters to the editor are welcomed. Please
limit letters to 300 words and Include addresses and
a telephone number for verification purposes. Letters
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should be sent to P.O. Drawer M. Perry, Ga., 31069
or brought to the newspaper office at 807 Carroll St.,
Perw.
fur liability for an error will not exceed the cost
Page 4A
Wed., Oct. 6, 1009
Torey
Jolley
Home
Journal
Writer '
ferring him to the Atlanta
suburb of Tucker come Nov.
15. I admit I love having my
family close to me and his
moving (though only a couple
of hours away) pains me. He
works for the phone company
in Macon.
My children let me know
they love me. 1 tell them I love
them everyday. I never let a
Bob
Tribble
Home
Journal
President
be lost. * *
The presidential candidate's
brother, Jeb, who is governor of
Florida, pushed through the
nation’s first statewide voucher
plan. There are similarities in
Bush’s Title One proposal and
the Florida plan.
The chairman of GOP candi
date Steve Forbes’ presidential
campaign said the Bush plan
didn’t go far enough. Ken
Blackwell said he didn't believe
the nation could wait three
years for real school reform.
Democratic presidential can
didate Bill Bradley said vouch
ers are not the answer to the
problems of public education.
William Raspberry, a nation
al syndicated columnist, made
some good points on school
vouchers in a recent article. In
his opening paragraph he said,
“Florida has launched what has
to be the most fascinating
school voucher experiment the
nation has seen. It is elegant in
of space occupied by the error.
We cannot be responsible for the return of pictures or
submitted materials unless a stamped, return address
envelope is included.
Our Goal
The Houston Home Journal Is published proudly
for the citizens of Houston and adjoining counties by
Houston Publications Inc., Perry, Ga. Our goal is to
produce quality, profitable, cornmunity-oriented
newspapers that you, our readers, are proud of. We
will reach this goal through hard work, teamwork,
loyalty and a strong dedication toward printing the
truth.
Member of Georgia Press Association and Nation
al Newspaper Association.
its simplicity, it speaks precise
ly to those parents who believe
the public schools are failing
their children, and it leaves the
hands of the public school sys
tem the power to put the pro
gram out of business."
The Florida plan recently
approved begins by testing all
fourth graders in reading and
math. If too many youngsters in
a school fail, the school itself is
deemed a failure. If the school
fails two years out of four, stu
dents become eligible for up to
$4,000 a year in scholarship to
attend other public or private
schools of their choice.
If there were no failing
schools, or failing schools get
their act together quickly, there
would be no vouchers.
In his column Raspberry
pointed out some flaws in the
voucher system. Only about ten
percent of the parents in the
first two Florida schools receiv
ing the “F" signed up for the
vouchers. No one knows why
the 90 percent didn’t. Only 63
percent of those who signed up
actually won scholarships in
the lottery that is part of the
plan.
His other main concerns are
whether or not the state can
afford the $4,000 scholarships
for thousands of students who
See TRIBBLE, Page 5A
Houston Hone Journal
day go by that I don”t tell
them how special they are to
me.
My husband and I always
say I love you several times a
day (in fact, it is a running
joke in my family that we say
“I love you" at least a half
dozen times each time we talk
on the phone but we are
getting ready to celebrate our
25th anniversary soon).
A friend of mine recently
passed away. She was a lively
woman with a great family. We
talked not eveiy day, but
often. She had a hearty,
robust laugh and always did
what she could to help others.
When we talked, she talked of
her family —their good quali
ties and their accomplish
ments. She loved them deeply.
I regret 1 did not stop' by for
a chat with her more often.
There were days and some
times a few weeks in-between
our chats. We"d waved and
shout our “hellos" across the
yards as we checked our mail
boxes. 1 could say I had excus
es I had to get to work or
clean the house or cook dinner
or run to the grocery store.
I valued her friendship and
still I took it for granted. I just
knew I"d be here and she"d be
here tomorrow. Well, tomor
row is here and that didn't
hold true.
I hope my friend knew she
touched my family in a special
way. I will not forget her nor
the valuable lesson I have
learned: stop and smell the
flowers today.
Charlotte
Perkins
Home
Journal
StafT
Keeping up
with Perry..
New at City Hall
Welcome to Perry's new city
manager, Lee Gilmour, whose
first day on the job was Monday.
He will be moving from
Brunswick to Perry soon with
his family.
Lost kitty
1 had a call last week from
Nan K. Mims, founder of the
Landings Pet Rescue Fund on
Skidaway Island. She wanted to
thank the people of Perry for a
warm welcome and rescue.
She arrived here during the
Hurricane Floyd evacuation
after a 15 hour trip with 31 cats
and dogs, and said she got great
help from Cathie Little and staff
of Fairfield Inn and from the
Smith Animal Hospital. She lost
one cat in the process a gray
female named Star. If anybody
has found this cat, which ran
away in the vicinity of Fairfield
Inn. please call Dr. Ben Smith,
987-1514.
Just a reminder
Flu shots are available at
Houston County Health Depart
ment on Kings Chapel Road,
now through mid-December.
Just $5. (Or covered by
Medicare Part B).
Why should you be miserable
for a week or more and wind up
spending a whole lot more than
$5 on medicines when one little
shot will protect you?
tor Well!
Perry’s City Attorney David
Walker took a few days off from
city work and his busy law prac
tice last week to check into the
hospital for an angioplasty. He’s
back home and doing well,
according to his brother, Larry,
who “subbed" as city attorney in
David’s absence.
Fair Days
It’s time for the 10th annual
Georgia National Fair - and this
one should be the biggest and
best ever. Be sure to look over
our special pull-out Fair Guide,
so you can plan to get the most
out of your time at the fair.
Festival Time:
The fall Mossy Creek Festival
will be Oct. 16-17. For those
who already know about this
wonderful festival in the “deep
See PERKINS, Page 5A
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